Is there not some attitude of mind which one should in
truth assume in order to understand the occult in Nature?

Sage:

Such attitude of mind must be attained as will enable
one to look into the realities of things. The mind must escape from the mere
formalities and conventions of life, even though outwardly one seems to obey
all of them, and should be firmly established on the truth that Man is a copy
of the Universe and has in himself a portion of the Supreme Being. To the
extent this is realized will be the clearness of perception of truth. A
realization of this leads inevitably to the conclusion that all other men and
beings are united with us, and this removes the egotism which is the result of
the notion of separateness. When the truth of Unity is understood, then
distinctions due to comparisons made like the Pharisee’s, that one is better
than his neighbor, disappear from the mind, leaving it more pure and free to
act.

Student:

What would you point out as a principal foe to the
mind’s grasping of truth?

Sage:

The principal foe of a secondary nature is what was
once called phantasy; that is, the
reappearance of thoughts and images due to recollection or memory. Memory is an
important power, but mind in itself is not memory. Mind is restless and
wandering in its nature, and must be controlled. Its wandering disposition is
necessary or stagnation would result. But it can be controlled and fixed upon an
object or idea. Now as we are constantly looking at and hearing of new things,
the natural restlessness of the mind becomes prominent when we set about
pinning it down. Then memory of many objects, things, subjects, duties,
persons, circumstances, and affairs brings up before it the various pictures
and thoughts belonging to them. After these the mind at once tries to go, and
we find ourselves wandering from the point. It must hence follow that the
storing of a multiplicity of useless and surely-recurring thoughts is an
obstacle to the acquirement of truth. And this obstacle is the very one
peculiar to our present style of life.

Student:

Can you mention some of the relations in which the sun
stands to us and nature in respect to Occultism?

Sage:

It has many such, and all important. But I would draw
your attention first to the greater and more comprehensive. The sun is the
center of our solar system. The life-energies of that system come to it through
the sun, which is a focus or reflector for the spot in space where the real
center is. And not only comes mere life through that focus, but also much more
that is spiritual in its essence. The sun should therefore not only be looked
at with the eye but thought of by the mind. It represents to the world what the
Higher Self is to the man. It is the soul-center of the world with its six
companions, as the Higher Self is the center for the six principles of man. So
it supplies to those six principles of the man many spiritual essences and
powers. He should for that reason think of it and not confine himself to gazing
at it. So far as it acts materially in light, heat, and gravity, it will go on
of itself, but man as a free agent must think upon it in order to gain what
benefit can come only from his voluntary action in thought.

Student:

Will you refer to some minor one?

Sage:

Well, we sit in the sun for heat and possible chemical
effects. But if at the same time that we do this we also think on it as the sun
in the sky and of its possible essential nature, we thereby draw from it some
of its energy not otherwise touched. This can also be done on a dark day when
clouds obscure the sky, and some of the benefit thus be obtained. Natural
mystics, learned and ignorant, have discovered this for themselves here and
there, and have often adopted the practice. But it depends, as you see, upon
the mind.

Student:

Does the mind actually do anything when it takes up a
thought and seeks for more light?

Sage:

It actually does. A thread, or a finger, or a long
darting current flies out from the brain to seek for knowledge. It goes in all
directions and touches all other minds it can reach so as to receive the
information if possible. This is telepathically, so to say, accomplished. There
are no patents on true knowledge of philosophy nor copyrights in that realm.
Personal rights of personal life are fully respected, save by potential black magicians
who would take anyone’s property. But general truth belongs to all, and when
the unseen messenger from one mind arrives and touches the real mind of
another, that other gives up to it what it may have of truth about general
subjects. So the mind’s finger or wire flies until it gets the thought or
seed-thought from the other and makes it its own. But our modern competitive
system and selfish desire for gain and fame is constantly building a wall
around people’s minds to everyone’s detriment.

Student:

Do you mean that the action you describe is natural,
usual, and universal, or only done by those who know how and are conscious of
it?

Sage:

It is universal and whether the person is aware or not
of what is going on. Very few are able to perceive it in
themselves, but that makes no difference. It is done always. When you sit down
to earnestly think on a philosophical or ethical matter, for instance, your
mind flies off, touching other minds, and from them you get varieties of
thought. If you are not well-balanced and psychically purified, you will often
get thoughts that are not correct. Such is your Karma and the Karma of the race.
But if you are sincere and try to base yourself on right philosophy, your mind
will naturally reject wrong notions. You can see in this how it is that systems
of thought are made and kept going, even though foolish, incorrect, or
pernicious.

Student:

What mental attitude and aspiration are the best
safeguards in this, as likely to aid the mind in these searches to reject error
and not let it fly into the brain?

Sage:

Unselfishness, Altruism in theory and practice, desire
to do the will of the Higher Self which is the “Father in Heaven”, devotion to
the human race. Subsidiary to these are discipline, correct thinking, and good
education.

Student:

Is the uneducated man, then, in a worse condition?

Sage:

Not necessarily so. The very learned are so immersed
in one system that they reject nearly all thoughts not in accord with
preconceived notions. The sincere ignorant one is often able to get the truth
but not able to express it. The ignorant masses generally hold in their minds
the general truths of Nature, but are limited as to expression. And most of the
best discoveries of scientific men have been obtained in this sub-conscious
telepathic mode. Indeed, they often arrive in the learned brain from some
obscure and so-called ignorant person, and then the scientific discoverer makes
himself famous because of his power of expression and means for giving it out.

Student:

Does this bear at all upon the work of the Adepts of
all good Lodges?

Sage:

It does. They have all the truths that could be desired,
but at the same time are able to guard them from the seeking minds of those who
are not yet ready to use them properly. But they often find the hour ripe and a
scientific man ready, and then touch his cogitating mind with a picture of what
he seeks. He then has a “flash” of thought in the line of his deliberations, as
many of them have admitted. He gives it out to the world, becomes famous, and
the world wiser. This is constantly done by the Adepts, but now and then they
give out larger expositions of Nature’s truths, as in the case of H.P.B. [1] This is not at first generally
accepted, as personal gain and fame are not advanced by any admission of
benefit from the writings of another, but as it is done with a purpose, for the
use of a succeeding century, it will do its work at the proper time.

Student:

How about the Adepts knowing what is going on in the
world of thought, in the West, for instance?

Sage:

They have only to voluntarily and consciously connect
their minds with those of the dominant thinkers of the day to at once discover
what has been or is being worked out in thought and to review it all. This they
constantly do, and as constantly incite to further elaborations or changes by
throwing out the suggestion in the mental plane so that seeking and receptive
minds may use it.

NOTE:

[1] At this point William Judge,
the editor of the article, chooses to refer to “HPB” in the third person. In
fact, this is a transcription of HPB’s answers
to his questions. See the editorial note at its beginning. (CCA)

000

The above article
was revised and its notes updated on 14 July 2018.

000

On the role of
the esoteric movement in the ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st
century, see the book “The Fire and
Light of Theosophical Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.

Published in 2013
by The Aquarian Theosophist, the
volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.